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After the Cold War ended, the space race enthusiasm evaporated as the funding for ambitious projects to explore space dried up. Launching dozens of satellites into space to form communications networks was (and still is) a risky business -- with a lot of upfront costs and a lot of equipment that's nearly obsolete by the time it reaches orbit. But it's becoming a bit cheaper to get stuff into space, and maybe we're seeing a bit more of a commercial space race. Check out a few of these space-bound projects.

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It's been decades since a human being has traveled beyond low earth orbit. Last year, NASA tested its human-rated Space Launch System to an altitude of 3,600 miles, but getting people to a "human accessible surface" that isn't part of the earth is going to take some time. China could have a taikonaut on the moon before 2030. NASA can say it's "been there, done that" -- but when will it be able to top a manned lunar landing?

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Getting stuff into space is difficult. There are a bunch of different rockets that have been used over the last few decades, but the odds of a launch failure isn't quite zero yet. A few companies are making cheaper launch systems, but a perfect track record is hard to maintain over more than a handful of launches. Perhaps that's why sentient robots in the movies never think about leaving the Earth behind.

Three failed resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS) have occurred over the last 8 months. Orbital Sciences is shifting away from using 1960s-era Soviet rocket engines that were probably the cause of its launch failure last October. In May, a Russian re-supply mission put its cargo in the wrong orbit. And SpaceX's investigations are ongoing for its recent Falcon 9 explosion. There are actually a few other options for getting supplies to the ISS, and Orbital Sciences will be employing alternative launch systems to fulfill its contract while it works on its replacement engines. [url]

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Getting on a rocket to Mars has been a dream for space exploration enthusiasts for decades. However, there are a lot of engineering problems that still need solutions before people can safely get to Mars (and back, unless you favor the one-way trip strategy). Optimists might expect humans to walk on Mars sometime in the 2030s, but realistically, there would have to be a significant change in the way deep space exploration is funded for that to happen. If you're just entering 5th grade or so, maybe you can consider a career on Mars. But perhaps you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket.